In additional to any bonds that the legislature passes it looks like we’ll have four opportunities to legislate at the polls this November. That’s right – if you vote, you get to be a Maine lawmaker. So you need to know what’s what, and a great place to start studying up is a visit to the Secretary of State’s webpage detailing all four citizen initiated bills. But for those of you who want the quick download, here we go:

An Act To Establish Ranked-choice Voting – The mechanics of elections for Governor, Congressional seats, and all state house legislative races in Maine would change. Instead of winning with the most votes on a single ballot (like it works now), candidates would be ranked by voters from highest preference to lowest. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the top ranked votes in the first round, the lowest vote getter is eliminated and his or her voters (those who ranked the candidate their #1 preference) are redistributed to the candidates those voters ranked as their #2 preference. Rounds of voting continue, eliminating the lowest vote-getter in each round, until someone has more than 50 percent of the vote.

Portland has used the system successfully. No other state conducts elections like this, although other localities do. There could be Maine constitutional issues with the initiative (the constitution allows for elections by plurality). Proponents emphasize that the system encourages candidates to appeal to voters beyond their core constituency, while opponents emphasize quirks in the system that could produce unusual results.

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An Act To Raise the Minimum Wage – The statewide minimum wage would go up from $7.50/hour to $9/hour on 1/1/17, and then increase by $1/hour per year until it reaches $12/hour in 2020. Thereafter the minimum wage would increase in tandem with increases in the Consumer Price Index. The existing tipped wage credit would be gradually phased out in about 10 years. Efforts to place a competing measure on the ballot (essentially a second choice for a smaller increase without the CPI and tipped-wage policies) was defeated in the legislature.

Proponents emphasize the need for working people to get a raise, opponents worry that rural economies and low-margin employers will not be able to sustain the additional costs of labor.

An Act To Require Background Checks for Gun Sales – Principally focused on gun show sales, the bill requires a background check before a firearm sale or transfer between individuals not licensed as firearm dealers. Several exceptions are offered, including transfers between family members, while the parties are hunting or sport shooting, and in cases of emergency self-defense.

Proponents characterize the bill as closing a loophole in the existing regulatory system, while opponents question the need for additional regulations.

An Act To Establish The Fund to Advance Public Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education – Imposes a 3% state income tax surcharge on earnings in excess of $200,000/year to raise an estimated $157 million dollars to be used to increase funding for state aid to local education, raising the state contribution to 55% as approved by Maine voters in 2003.

State government hasn’t ever contributed 55% to local K-12 school costs, although they’ve come close on occasion. The Maine Constitution requires that the state pay nothing – it’s all on municipalities – leaving Maine’s school funding policy in a mess. Speaking of messes, the state income tax has been inching lower over the past few years, but this bill would crank up state income taxes on small businesses, upper middle class couples and high earning individuals from 7.15% to 10.15%. Only California has a higher individual income tax rate for 2016. It might sound good to ‘tax the rich,’ but it won’t sound nearly as good if those people leave, or just don’t come here.

So that’s a start on getting ready to be a legislator this fall, but there’s much more to learn – including why you might not agree with everything I’ve said. But whether you do or not, on November 8 2016, in addition to helping elect the next President of the United States, you’ll be casting four votes in your capacity as a Maine lawmaker, and those votes will have substantial impact on our state’s future.